Richard Adhikari’s article on the Internet News website details a laptop theft from the Independence, MO Republican Party Office. The laptop belonged to regional coordinator Brian Johnson, who noted that the laptop was password protected, and likely the laptop had strategic campaign information stored on it.

The laptop theft in Independence could have easily been dismissed as a random, unsolicited act; however the thief (or thieves) removed the original laptop and replaced it with another, allegedly to mask the theft. However, Tina Hervey, director of communications for the party, commented that “the Dell laptop that was stolen was black, and they put a smaller, white laptop in its place.” Clearly there was a lack of planning on the part of the thief.

When asked to comment, the McCain-Palin campaign declined to respond.

Though the laptop was password protected, security professionals will stress the importance of data encryption rather than merely password protecting data. It’s an added security measure that can make all the difference, especially in cases of laptop theft.

Though Hervey and the Republican Campaign did not explicitly point fingers, she did let slip, “We’re not pointing fingers or jumping to conclusions, but, when you have an office that had at least 25 computers in it and only one was stolen, it makes you think.”

With more secure measures, such as those provided by MyLaptopGPS, all of the sensitive strategic information on that laptop could have been recovered.

Now, everybody tune in to the general election once Missouri starts voting, and let’s see if the Dems have a peculiar head start.